May 19
Events *1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier kidnapped during his first voyage). *1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery. *1568 - Queen Elizabeth I of England has Mary Queen of Scots arrested. *1604 - The town of Montreal is founded. *1643 - Thirty Years' War: French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power. *1649 - An Act declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years. *1749 - King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River. *1780 - New England's Dark Day: A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness to fall on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 10:30 AM. *1802 - The Légion d'Honneur is founded by Napoleon Bonaparte. *1828 - U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States. *1848 - Mexican-American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexico ratifies the treaty thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of five other modern-day U.S. states to the USA for USD $15 million. *1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends. *1897 - Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol. *1913 - Igor Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du printemps" premiers in Paris. The audience riots. *1919 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Anatolian Black Sea coast, initiating what was later termed the Turkish War of Independence. The anniversary of this event is the official date of commemoration of the Pontic Greek Genocide in Greece and Cyprus. *1921 - The Emergency Quota Act passes the U.S. Congress establishing national quotas on immigration *1922 - Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union is established. *1943 - World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the cross-English Channel landing (D-Day would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather). *1961 - Venera program: Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back data). *1962 - A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's infamous rendition of Happy Birthday. *1971 - Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union. *1991 - Croatians vote for independence at their independence referendum. Births *1593 - Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (d. 1678) *1700 - José de Escandón, Spanish colonial governor (d. 1770) *1724 - Augustus Hervey, British admiral and politician (d. 1779) *1744 - Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1818) *1762 - Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (d. 1814) *1773 - Arthur Aikin, English mineralogist (d. 1854) *1795 - Johns Hopkins, American philanthropist (d. 1873) *1797 - Maria Isabel of Portugal, queen of Spain (d. 1818) *1827 - Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French statesman (d. 1896) *1861 - Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera singer (d. 1931) *1862 - Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (d. 1942) *1870 - Albert Fish, American serial killer (d. 1936) *1874 - Gilbert Laird Jessop, English cricketer (d. 1955) *1879 - Nancy Astor, American-born politician (d. 1964) *1880 - Sir Albert Richardson, English architect (d. 1964) *1881 - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1st President of Turkey (d. 1938) *1882 - Mohammed Mossadegh, Prime Minister of Iran (d. 1967) *1890 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese leader (d. 1969) *1891 - Oswald Boelcke, German World War I pilot (d. 1916) *1897 - Frank Luke, American World War I pilot (d. 1918) *1898 - Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (d. 1974) *1906 - Bruce Bennett, American athlete and actor (d. 2007) *1908 - Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (d. 1982) *1909 - Nicholas Winton, British Humanitarian *1914 - Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002) * 1914 - Go Seigen, Japanese Go player * 1914 - Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005) *1918 - Abraham Pais, Dutch-born American physicist (d. 2000) *1921 - Yuri Kochiyama, American civil rights activist * 1921 - Karel van het Reve, Dutch writer (d. 1999) * 1921 - Daniel Gélin, French actor (d. 2002) *1924 - Sandy Wilson, British composer *1925 - Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (d. 1965) * 1925 - Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (d. 1998) * 1925 - Guy Provost, French Canadian actor (d. 2004) *1926 - Swami Kriyananda, Indian teacher and author *1928 - Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars (d. 1982) * 1928 - Dolph Schayes, American basketball player and coach *1929 - John Stroger Chicago politician *1930 - Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright (d. 1965) *1931 - Eric Tappy, Swiss tenor * 1931 - Bob Anderson, British racing driver (d. 1967) *1932 - Alma Cogan, English singer (d. 1966) * 1932 - Paul Erdman, American economist and author (d. 2007) * 1932 - Claude Blanchard, Quebec comedian, actor and singer (d. 2006) *1934 - Jim Lehrer, American television journalist * 1934 - Ruskin Bond, Indian author *1935 - Xadir N'Diaye, Senegalese-American Muslim leader *1939 - Livio Berruti, Italian athlete * 1939 - James Fox, English actor * 1939 - Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong actress * 1939 - Dick Scobee, American astronaut (d. 1986) *1940 - Mickey Newbury, American musician * 1940 - Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist *1941 - Nora Ephron, American screenwriter *1942 - Gary Kildall, American computer programmer (d. 1994) * 1942 - Robert Kilroy-Silk, British politician/television presenter *1944 - Peter Mayhew, British-American actor *1945 - Pete Townshend, English musician (The Who) *1946 - André the Giant, French professional wrestler (d. 1993) * 1946 - Claude Lelièvre, Belgian commissioner for children's rights *1947 - Michele Placido, Italian actor and director * 1947 - Paul Brady, Northern Ireland singer/songwriter * 1947 - David Helfgott, Australian pianist *1948 - Grace Jones, Jamaican singer and actress *1949 - Archie Manning, American football player * 1949 - Dusty Hill, American blues rock singer/bassist (ZZ Top) *1951 - Joey Ramone, American musician (The Ramones) (d. 2001) *1952 - Bert van Marwijk, Dutch football manager *1953 - Victoria Wood, British comic actress * 1953 - Dawud M. Mu'Min, American convicted murderer (d. 1997) * 1953 - Shavarsh Karapetyan, Soviet Armenian finswimmer *1954 - Phil Rudd, Australian drummer (AC/DC) *1956 - James Gosling, Canadian computer programmer * 1956 - Steven Ford, American actor *1957 - Bill Laimbeer, American basketball player and coach *1959 - Nicole Brown Simpson, Ex-wife of O.J. Simpson and murder victim. (d. 1994) *1963 - Yazz, British singer *1964 - Miloslav Mečíř, Slovakian former tennis player *1966 - Polly Walker, British actress * 1966 - Marc Bureau, French Canadian ice hockey player *1968 - Kyle Eastwood, American jazz musician; son of Clint Eastwood *1970 - Mario Dumont, Quebec politician (Action démocratique du Québec) *1971 - Dionicio Castellanos, Mexican professional wrestler *1972 - Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer (Ace of Base) *1973 - Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver *1974 - Andrew Johns, Australian rugby league footballer *1975 - London Fletcher, American football player * 1975 - Masanobu Ando, Japanese actor * 1975 - Josh Paul, American baseball player * 1975 - Pretinha, Brazilian footballer *1976 - Ed Cota, American basketball player * 1976 - Kevin Garnett, American basketball player *1977 - Manuel Almúnia, Spanish footballer * 1977 - Brandon Inge, American baseball player *1978 - Marcus Bent, English footballer *1979 - Barbara Nedeljakova, Slovak actress (Hostel) * 1979 - Diego Forlán, Uruguayan footballer * 1979 - Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer *1980 - Drew Fuller, American actor/model * 1980 - Tony Hackworth, English footballer *1981 - Georges St. Pierre, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter * 1981 - Luciano Figueroa, Argentinian footballer * 1981 - Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer * 1981 - Nate Cole, American singer/songwriter (formerly of Plus One) *1982 - Kevin Amankwaah, English footballer * 1982 - Pål Steffen Andresen, Norwegian footballer *1983 - Eve Angel, Hungarian model/porn star * 1983 - Jessica Fox, British actress *1984 - Marcedes Lewis, American football player *1986 - Eric Lloyd, American actor *1987 - David Edgar, Canadian footballer *1988 - Lily Cole, English model/actress *1991 - Jordan Pruitt, American singer Deaths * 804 - Alcuin, English monk (b. c. 735) * 988 - Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 909) *1102 - Stephen (b. c. 1045) *1125 - Vladimir Monomakh, Russian prince (b. 1053) *1296 - Pope Celestine V (b. 1215) *1319 - Louis d'Évreux, son of Philip III of France (b. 1276) *1389 - Dmitri Donskoi, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350) *1526 - Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464) *1531 - Jan Łaski, Polish statesman and diplomat (b. 1456) *1536 - Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII of England *1601 - Costanzo Porta, Italian composer *1610 - Thomas Sanchez, Spanish theologian (b. 1550) *1637 - Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (b. 1588) *1715 - Charles Montagu, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661) *1786 - John Stanley, English composer (b. 1712) *1795 - Josiah Bartlett, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1729) * 1795 - James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740) *1798 - William Byron, English dueler (b. 1722) *1821 - Camille Jordan, French politician (b. 1771) *1825 - Claude Henri de Rouvroy, French political philosopher (b. 1760) *1864 - Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (b. 1804) *1876 - Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch politician (b. 1801) *1885 - Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809) *1895 - José Martí, Cuban independence leader (b. 1853) *1898 - William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809) *1904 - Auguste Molinier, French historian (b. 1851) *1907 - Benjamin Baker, English engineer (b. 1840) *1912 - Bolesław Prus, Polish writer (b. 1847) *1915 - John Simpson Kirkpatrick stretcher bearer with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli during World War I (b. 1892) *1918 - Raoul Lufbery, French-American World War I fighter pilot and flying ace (b. 1885) *1935 - T. E. Lawrence, English soldier known as Lawrence of Arabia (b. 1888) *1943 - Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter (b. 1865) *1945 - Philipp Bouhler, German nazi leader (b. 1889) *1946 - Booth Tarkington, American novelist (b. 1869) *1954 - Charles Ives, American composer (b. 1874) *1958 - Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891) *1965 - Tui Malila, world's oldest tortoise (b. 1773 or 1777) *1969 - Coleman Hawkins, American musician (b. 1901) *1971 - Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902) *1983 - Jean Rey, President of the European Commission (b. 1902) *1984 - John Betjeman, English poet and Poet Laureate (b. 1906) *1986 - Jimmy Lyons, American musician (b. 1931) *1987 - James Tiptree, American author (b. 1915) *1989 - CLR James, West Indian writer and journalist (b. 1901) *1994 - Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, First Lady of the United States (b. 1929) * 1994 - Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (b. 1945) *1998 - Sōsuke Uno, Japanese prime minister (b. 1922) *2000 - Yevgeny Khrunov, cosmonaut (b. 1933) *2001 - Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946) *2002 - John Gorton, nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1911) * 2002 - Walter Lord, American writer (b. 1917) *2004 - Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress (b. 1907) *2005 - Henry Corden, American actor and voice artist (b. 1921) * 2006 - Freddie Garrity, English lead singer from the band Freddie and the Dreamers (b. 1940) *2007 - Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914) Holidays and observances * Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church: ** Saint Ciarán mac Colga ** Dunstan ** Peter Celestine ** Ives ** Emiliana ** Pudentiana ** Theophilus of Corte *Commemoration of Atatürk in Turkey (1919). External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:May